Hilton HHonors - Scottsdale Hilton Resort vs Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs

We want to go to Phoenix for a week in March. ALON or TEEN. Narrowed our choice down to the Scottsdale Hilton and the Tapatio Resort. Wanted opinions on which in nicer, has better rooms and restuarants. Scottsdale seems to better located, is there anything around the Tapatio location? Thank you.

I can't answer your question, but you might want to do this soon. With Spring Training in full swing in March, availability can be difficult. I recently booked a TEEN at Tapatio in March, but had to work with the CSR on a number of dates to get six available nights in a row. A couple of blackout dates in mid-month have to be worked around as well. I'm only Gold, though, so if you're a Diamond you might not have this problem.

I picked Tapatio specifically because of its proximity (relatively speaking) to the Mariners' camp in Peoria. I am sooooo looking forward to some sunshine and lots of baseball. Good luck!

Hi,

The Scottsdale Hilton will be better located as it is fairly close to Old Town Scottsdale and the Fashion Square Mall. The Tapatio Cliffs (TC) you will have a longer drive to get to the nearest shops and restaurants. ( IF you want to leave the resort then you will need a car) although I did not have one fot two days -I just lazed around the resort and took the shuttle/taxi service back to PHX -$18 o/w
The TC had nice suite rooms in low rise buildings around the resort with various pools and two main pools in the main Falls swimming pool area with a long water slide which was fun. The main pools were open until 10pm ( in June)
They organised early moring walks into the surrounding dessert for around $8 ( drinks provided)leaving at 6:30 and lasting around 90mins or so- I did not go on one as it was not on the day I was there.
The pool area is very nicely done with a replica of a fall in the Grand Canyon made.
In the two pools there are a couple of waterfalls with water running into the pool ( so you can have a free shower too! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I do not think you can actually swim in the falls.

Regards
TBS

[This message has been edited by The _Banking_Scot (edited 02-08-2003).]

If you have kids I'd stay Tapatio or look into Squaw Peak both have great rooms but with the location you'll need a car. The rooms are great at both if you have elite status and are lucky enough to get an upgrade you'll appreciate the extra space. I have always been upgraded at both properties. Scottsdale Hilton is nice and recently had a face lift but I would choose either Point resorts. The Scottsdale Resort reminds me of a Holiday Inn a big Square with a pool in the center. The Point resorts have more character.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by coplatua1k:
If you have kids I'd stay Tapatio or look into Squaw Peak both have great rooms but with the location you'll need a car. </font>We will be staying this year on a TEEN, and as such were looking at the Pointes, leaning towards the Tapatio. I like the Tapatio's location (surrounded by an undeveloped nature preserve) and it looked to be a bit nicer than the Squaw Peak.

However, my impression is based upon marketing info and a quick drive by and walk into the lobby, so I'd love to hear any feedback comparing the two.

We will be two adults and an 18 month old who loves swimming. The falls at Tapatio look cool -- can you swim in them?

Also, has anyone seen pets (non guide dogs) at either of the Pointes? I think they have an official "no pets" policy, but I am hoping to get an exception made and precedence is always a good lever.

We are also at Tapatio in March on a TEEN award. I was very surprised when the agent waived two listed blackout days in the middle of our stay, so they may not be as busy as a typical March. This will be our first time at this location - usually stay at one of the Marriott properties in Scottsdale. It sounds like there will be a few FlyerTalkers in the area next month.

The falls at Tapatio sound a bit nicer than they are in person but overall still a great place. Check out www.pointhilton.com (http://www.pointhilton.com) for a more detailed view.

I have only stayed at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort and loved it. My room was ok, not a great upgrade but ok, but the pool was nice and the Tiki bar was awesome.. The location was good and I would go back.

I've been to all 3.

SH was great as a business traveler. As a Diamond, I was given a great room, diamond amenity (I chose a split of red wine and a free movie) and the breakfast option included a room-service continental.

We went to SP last March for Spring Break and it was packed. No upgrades and lines for everything. That much said, my kids want to go back for the extensive pools. Next time, we'll go in the summer when the weather should be real warm (it topped out in the low 70's) and the upgrades more plentiful.

TC is a little more geared to adults, but still has great facilities for kids. I think your 18 month old will be happy with the TC pools. If you golf, the course that's part of the TC property wasn't bad.

The Diamond amenity I chose at the Scottsdale Hilton was the chocolates. You will not regret this choice. The chocolates were fantastic. No Executive Level or Concierge Floor, though. Very nice, clean hotel. If you can get it for less than $100.00/night (I once paid $79.00/night through the Hilton reservations web site!), definitely book it.

I had a spacious upgraded suite at Tapatio Cliffs, complete with fireplace. The Executive Lounge was closed, however. I am not sure whether it ever re-opened. Great view of Phoenix and surrounding areas from the restaurant at the top of the hill.

I just recently stayed at the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa. I highly recommend it. The room rate was less than $100.00/night, yet I was upgraded to a suite with a terrace. The room was nice and clean. I had access to the Executive Lounge, where they had a nice selection of food and drinks. They also had three wide flat-screen wall-hung televisions going at the same time with different channels, and a terrace as well. They even have special parking for Hilton HHonors members - a nice touch. Very convenient to restaurants and shopping in Mesa (you can walk to some of them), and two blocks from Superstition Freeway (US 60). Without traffic, Phoenix is no more than 20 minutes away. Scottsdale is slightly closer. My only complaint is that there was only person behind the counter and it took 15 minutes to check in.

You will not go wrong no matter which Hilton you choose.

I "might" be staying at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, about 1 mile away from the Scottsdale Hilton. The conf. is being held at the Plaza. I am looking for info on the Plaza if anyone has been there. Tapatio Cliffs seems to be about 20 minutes away. Is morning or evening rush hour a concern if I decide to stay at Tapatio and commute every morning?

The water features look very cool at Tapatio, but the recent renovation at Scottsdale is enticing. But the suites at the Plaza look awesome to say the least. Obviously torn, but being able to hit the room during a break is a big plus.

G

Anyone know what parking costs per night at Tapatio Cliffs?

[This message has been edited by TravelWeary (edited 02-09-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TravelWeary:
Anyone know what parking costs per night at Tapatio Cliffs?</font>

Free parking, but the parking spaces near your room (parallel parking, not perpendicular parking) can be sparse and tight. You may need to park near the lobby, pool or restaurant areas if the parking spaces near your room are all taken. This is a minor inconvenience at the worst, and you may have to walk up a couple of flights of stairs outside, but the walk is nice.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gandalf:
The water features look very cool at Tapatio, but the recent renovation at Scottsdale is enticing. But the suites at the Plaza look awesome to say the least. Obviously torn, but being able to hit the room during a break is a big plus.</font>

There is no convenient direct highway to Scottsdale from Tapatio, so you may have to take Thunderbird Road to 51 south to a major east-west street such as Camelback Road. Traffic can be a little heavier during rush hour from Tapatio, but I have not experienced traffic heavy enough to be a real concern. The traffic lights may slow you down more than the traffic itself. Construction may add to the problem, if construction exists on your route.

As for which hotel to stay at: if you have more than two nights, why not consider having it all and splitting your stay between all hotels? This way, you get a sampling of all the hotels.

[This message has been edited by Canarsie (edited 02-10-2003).]

Last week stayed at the Tap for four nights and stayed at Squaw for one night. Tap seems to be more geared toward adults, Squaw has the slide and lazy river. Tennis at Tap was free, had to pay at Squaw. Both resorts are nice, Tap is in more secluded location-great area to hike into mountains-unless you have a car, kinda stuck at resort. Lots of free parking at both locations is available. Front desk staff at both locations were friendly. Enterprise rental car has desk at Tap. Went to Scottsdale restaurant called Mastro's (spelling?) Absolutely fantastic steaks and seafood. Concierges at both sites were helpful. Id go back to both.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Canarsie:
There is no convenient direct highway to Scottsdale from Tapatio, so you may have to take Thunderbird Road to 51 south to a major east-west street such as Camelback Road. Traffic can be a little heavier during rush hour from Tapatio, but I have not experienced traffic heavy enough to be a real concern. The traffic lights may slow you down more than the traffic itself. Construction may add to the problem, if construction exists on your route.</font>

I'd suggest coming south on 7th St to Glendale/Lincoln, and taking that to Scottsdale Road. This will take you past several other resorts. Camelback is ok, but has more lights. There's no construction in the area that I'm aware of.

FWIW--there's a good Greek restaurant just south of there on the east side of 7th called "Greektown". It's in an old pizza hut building, but the interior is nicely redone.

JP

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by j379pa:
I'd suggest coming south on 7th St to Glendale/Lincoln, and taking that to Scottsdale Road. This will take you past several other resorts. Camelback is ok, but has more lights. There's no construction in the area that I'm aware of.</font>

7th Street is also a good suggestion, although I am not sure if that is the most efficient route. Good point about Camelback Road, especially in Scottsdale.

The construction I was referring to was along various portions of Scottsdale Road, but that may be completed by now.

Thank you, Canarsie, for the parking info. I thought I had read somewhere that there was a parking fee. This is great news, as over seven days parking can really add up.

Just to give another viewpoint...Senor Hamachi and I must be the only people to have a bad stay at Tapatio. We have gold status (mutual fund account). At check-in there was no acknowledgment of our status (we had spent the previous night at the Hilton Suites in Phoenix, where we had a fantastic room on a "status" floor). We were treated extremely poorly by the front desk staff, who basically gave us our key and told us to leave. Tapatio is an extremely large property, and we didn't know where we were going. We finally found our room, and it was extremely dark, dated and worn. There were screaming kids barreling down the hallway at all hours, and starting at 9pm, they showed a "dive-in" movie at the pool. We were unlucky enough that this was right outside our room, and so we were unable to get any sleep until well after the movie was over. We found the resort to be generally a little dated and the staff to be quite unhelpful. To top it all off, we were overcharged when we checked out, and I had to wrangle with another surly front desk agent to get the correct rate.

I definitely would not stay at Tapatio again, but would highly recommend the Hilton Suites in Phoenix.

Having stayed at all three properties many times and in various seasons, my choice is always Tapatio. Most of the property has been renovated in the last year. Diamond status always gets breakfast coupons (plus "kids" eat cheap!), and usually upgraded to a "presidential suite": Huge room, fireplace, jacuzzi tub, etc. Tapatio does have a concierge lounge, however, it is usually only open during high season. (I remember when it was up on the hill with it's own pool! - but I date myself...)

Food wise: a mexican place in the main building that is "ok", but doesn't stay open late. The main food place (open for all meals) is good, but for the money, use it for breakfast only. There also is a very high end place, "A Different Pointe of View" with fantastic views of the city - I HIGHLY recommend it!! There is also a bar at the main pool area that serves a good lunch menu. They also do a Friday and Saturday night "party" with food, drinks, and a band at the main pool (lots of fun and locals!!)


If you golf, they have a good course and rates go way down in the afternoon and during the summer. I've paid as little as $25 with a cart!

My kids love this resort and choose it over the others every time! The also run a shuttle to Squaw peak and guests get reciprocal privelidges. SP is nice, but unless you get upgraded into the Casitas, it is no where near as nice as TC.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the different perspective, Buster...

But who's Senor Hamachi?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Thanks for the different perspective, Buster...
But who's Senor Hamachi? </font>

He's my husband. I had suggested that he register as Mr. Buster, but that didn't really fly with him... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif He's not nearly as active a poster here as I am.

I am going to be visiting Scottsdale for 5 nights April 23-28 andx have already decided on the PointeHilton resort but am unsure of the main differance of the squaw peak and the Tapatio.
It will just be myself and my wife, I am HH gold so do not expect any upgrade so I am looking for a reccomendation on which would be better for a "standard room"
Also I am quite tight with the money so I am looking for a good deal.
Any ideas on the best booking engine for these places? (must be able to get points)

Thanks in advance

.

I've booked Squaw Peak next week on a TEEN award as a Diamond, I'll post my trip report on our return. My reservation is already upgraded to a 2 bedroom Casitas. Reservation shows a rate of $549.00 per night.

[This message has been edited by Dugernaut (edited 02-14-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Dugernaut:
I've booked Squaw Peak next week on a TEEN award as a Diamond, I'll post my trip report on our return. My reservation is already upgraded to a 2 bedroom Casitas. Reservation shows a rate of $549.00 per night.

[This message has been edited by Dugernaut (edited 02-14-2003).]</font>

How do you know about your upgrade??

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by CTEASDEL:
It will just be myself and my wife, I am HH gold so do not expect any upgrade so I am looking for a reccomendation on which would be better for a "standard room"</font>

Well, as a Gold last summer I got a Presidential suite after dismissing the first few rooms they assigned me. However apart from the specific problems (smell/noise) the rooms had we were in first, their regular suites (all-suite resort) were very decent.

Greetings - Dirk

Dirk,

Which hotel did you stay at?

Pardon, I was talking about the Tapatio Cliffs...

Greetings - Dirk

I stayed at the Squaw Peak last week. As a Diamond was upgraded to a casitas, given two bottles of water, and two breakfast coupons. Nice place and breakfast served at two resturants- one opens at 6 and the other at 7. Covered parking place by casitas back door was nice especially since it was rainy.

Thanks Dirk,

Any advise on the best (i.e cheapest) place to book these resorts? Is it going to be Hilton.com?

Cheers

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by CTEASDEL:
Thanks Dirk,

Any advise on the best (i.e cheapest) place to book these resorts? Is it going to be Hilton.com?

Cheers</font>

I think so, yes. In August I had a 64$ rate there.

Greetings - Dirk

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by CTEASDEL:
Thanks Dirk,

Any advise on the best (i.e cheapest) place to book these resorts? Is it going to be Hilton.com?

Cheers</font>

I booked my stay this June for $71 per on hilton.com.

Just back from a TEEN at Squaw Peak as Gold, 2 nights in standard suite, 4 nights in one bed room Casita. The suites were fine, but the extra room in casita in was wonderful. It had a huge downstairs area, living room, dining room, bathroom (toilet and sink only), kitchen area with nearly full size refrigerator and a small microwave. Have to call for dishes and utensils. It would be nie to have them there already. Covered Parking right outside the back door. There is a front door to living room, french doors off dining area and backdoor to parking.

Upstairs bedroom and bath was nice enough but there was a huge sun deck too. Outdoor table and 4 chairs and 2 lounge chairs. Very relaxing. The pool area was fine, we used all pools/slides/lazy river/sports pool/jacuzzi. None were truly outstanding, but the variety was nice for the kids and kept us occupied from noon til 5 or so. Once your kids are past 15 however, I think TC would be a better choice, more adult like as we visited there one day. There are LOTS of kids at Squaw Peak, from infants to travelling soccer teams, all doing what kids do, jumping and yelling and having fun. Tapatio cliffs is much calmer.

You can buy a resort value pass at Squaw Peak for $9 a day that allows unlimited use of mini golf ($5 per person per day otherwise, a bad deal for a poor course, but a pleasant enough way to spend one hour), an hour of tennis per day, free use of gym, 10% of spa and giftshop, and an extra person admittance to the water park (usually $10 a day).

At check-in, we were given 24 coupons worth $7.50 to $8.00 each to be used at breakfast at the the hole in the wall poolside restauarant or Lantana grill. I think I put on 5 pounds eating steak and eggs or huevos rancheros everyday instead of my usual bagel and coffee.

the front desk staff and waitstaff were extremely pleasant but there was a wedding there so we couldn't get into a casita right away, and the snow on the east coast made for some short tempers as people tried to extend their stays.

One thing missing, no executive lounge, but we had stocked up at the local grocery just down 16th Street so it was fine. Or we could have gone to Lantana grill for happy hour monday to Friday from 3-7 when everything (drinks and appetizers) was half price.

If you had to wait for breakfast (even 2 minutes) they waived the cost of the drinks. Service was amazingly fast on the whole in the restaurtants and poolside. We remarked several times on the cheerfulness and accomodation of the staff. We tried to make the best of it and did not demand anything and found little benefits every time.

So here is the tentative plan for next year, two rooms on a TEEN at Squaw Peak and one room at Hilton Sedona with some extended family and run back and forth between them, without actually having to see those extended family members everyday.



[This message has been edited by OB one (edited 02-23-2003).]

I'll ask at the properties, but I was wondering if the Pointe resorts allow reciprocal use of each other's facilities.

That is, if I'm at Tapatio, can I take a trip to Squaw Peak to use their pools, etc.? Any charges involved?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Rut Dog:
I'll ask at the properties, but I was wondering if the Pointe resorts allow reciprocal use of each other's facilities.

That is, if I'm at Tapatio, can I take a trip to Squaw Peak to use their pools, etc.? Any charges involved?</font>

Yes, no problem at all. They even operate a shuttle between the two resorts, and there is no charge for that (or at least was back in August last year).

Greetings - Dirk

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by djohannw:
Yes, no problem at all. They even operate a shuttle between the two resorts, and there is no charge for that (or at least was back in August last year).

Greetings - Dirk</font>

As Dirk said, no problem at all. By car the ride is 10 minutes tops, you can put any charges at either Pointe on your room. For Squaw Peak river ranch access, you are issued a wristband, nothing is neccessary at TC. For a 6 night stay, it is a nice break to have the option of either hotel's facilties. I didn't (and wouldn't) try to get into the TC executive lounge as a squaw peak guest, however.

OB One, Was the Executive Lounge open at T.C.? Any details would be appreciated.

Thanks,

G

OBOne:
You should not have had to pay anything to get into the Squaw Peak water park....also shouldn't have had to pay anything for the mini golf. We stayed the last several years at TC and used the reciprical priv. at SP and never had to pay for anything. Just showed them our room card from TC and we were good to go.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gandalf:
OB One, Was the Executive Lounge open at T.C.? Any details would be appreciated.

Thanks,

G</font>

Gandalf, I don't know if the lounge at TC was open. I didn't try to find it. Sorry. Another post I read here said it closed in the summer, but February is the beginning of high season, so I assume it was open.

Zipual, you are correct that the SP water park has free access, for 4 people for the suites, 6 for the one bedroom casitas, and 8 for the two bedroom casitas. Guests over that amount are supposed to pay and we had guests for 3 days (of course, it is fairly easy to circumvent the rules, but we didn't, at least not too much http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ) . Also the resort pass paid for tennis and local phone calls and some other stuff. So we paid the $9 fee for 4 of the 6 days we were there, $36 in total, and didn't feel a bit guilty about bringing in our friends and were happy to have the $5.70 worth of daily local calls removed from our bill.

Total due at checkout for 6 nights, $146, almost all for tips for waitstaff at breakfast and poolside drinks. I will miss the 100,000 TEEN/ALON/GLON awards.

Hi,

When I was there in June 2002 there was a free shuttle service between TC and SP ( starting at 5pm till around midnight).

Also bumping as I would also like to know if we can use the other's facilities while staying at the other Pointe ( and any charges)

Regards

TBS

I can't comment on the Scottsdale Resort, but I can comment on the Tapatio. I was upgraded to an Ambassdor Suite overlooking the pool. Very nice room with new bathrooms! One large great room with wet bar, 36 inch TV and work desk by a window. The room was set up like a room at an Emabssy Suite, only bigger. Seperate bathroom between the great room and bedroom and bathroom with shower tucked into the bedroom corner. Did I mention the two sided walk in closet. No sliding mirrored closets here. Very nice touch.

The staff was extremely friendly, customer centric and willing to delight their customers. The bar by the pool was a typical poolside bar, but again the staff was top-notch. Harp Lager on tap is a really nice touch (Head's up the The Banking Scot). I now it's not McEwan's, but at least its close. Also, the 20 or so drink coupons that I was given were able to be used for more than beer, wine and well drinks. This all depends all the Server, but 75% of the time, I was able to pull a draft of Harps!!

The site layout is unique to say the least. Set on an abandoned quarry on a mountain side, the site reminded me of a Tuscan village with a decidely Mexican flair. The restaurant and lounge on top of the mountain looked really cool as well

I loved the property and hope to take the family for a return visit.

If anyone is visiting this site by June 30, 2003, please let me know as I might have some time sensitive items that might be of use.

Thanks to Flyertalk and its members for coming through with rock solid tips and suggestions once again.

G

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gandalf:
Harp Lager on tap is a really nice touch Also, the 20 or so drink coupons that I was given were able to be used for more than beer, wine and well drinks. 75% of the time, I was able to pull a draft of Harps!!
G</font>


Well, that makes 15 Harps, but what did you do on the second day? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I assume they gave you drink certificates because the exec lounge was closed. Yes?


[This message has been edited by OB one (edited 04-14-2003).]

I'm interested in either Tapatio or Squaw Peak for Sept. to do some golfing. Any recent reports on the golf courses near either resort or on the exec lounge? Any advice would be appreciated as we haven't been to Phoenix or Scottsdale before. Thanks!

Aussiemate

There is a golf course at Tapatio. I'm not a golfer so can't tell you how good or bad it is. I will tell you that the Scottsdale/Phoenix area is a wonderful area to visit at any time of year (little hot in the summer http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif), I've been going there for years and will continue to do so. Possibly the most relaxing place in the Continental US to take a vacation.

There are many reviews of Tapatio and Squaw Peak to be found here (including mine), so I'm sure you'll find your answers with a search.

Look in the trip reports

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ranles:
Look in the trip reports</font>

here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/003696.html